A Nutritionally Dense Diet

The exploration of what it means to eat a Nutritionally Dense Diet started in the summer of 2010 when we became good friends with Jeanne and Joe while they stayed here at the center doing some work for us. I was never interested in cooking, it just wasn't something I found joy in or much of a reason to do. Food was largely convenient enough, and while lots of things were good to eat they took lots of effort to create. I didn't find that fun.I still don't find cooking to be loads of fun, but now I understand the purpose behind it. Processed foods are destroying the health of our society. There are more cases of chronic diseases and illnesses than ever before. While at first glance our life expectancy appears to be longer, the outcome of our lives is rather grim. Cancers and heart disease along with obesity are a plague that we have brought on ourselves through our changes in lifestyle and diet.Jeanne opened a new world to me for the concept of cooking, and why one should cook. Eating foods that are at their most basic level of ingredients, from a place that you know of, is of so much more value to our bodies, which in turn nourishes our mind, which affects our emotions. We're all inner connected. We ARE what we eat. As I have gained knowledge it has amazed me how little thought people seem to put into where their food comes from and what it REALLY is made of. When you start reading labels and learn a bit of the lingo, the answer is horrifying.So we've made changes. We make vegetable and fruit smoothies (you can't taste the color!) with a $300.00 blender that was one of our smartest kitchen investments ever. I have learned to create my own hummus all the way from soaking the beans and cooking them myself, to creating my own power bars with my own ingredients. We now drink raw milk and eat raw dairy products, and purchase the vast majority of our dairy and meat from a buying group which supplies all grass fed beef and dairy products along with a host of other organic farm raised produce and meats. And when I do have the chance to eat the "normal" things I am finding myself less and less interested. Food just does not taste as good anymore when you know the reality of what goes into the over processed chemically laden excuse for foods.So it is my hope that this page becomes a resource and inspiration for others to find information to start their own journey to knowing where their food comes from and why they eat what they choose to eat.

Green Med InfoCornucopia Institute - This institute collects data on various food producers and rates them. Excellent resource for knowing if the brand you are buying is really worth what their packaging says.

For local to the MD/NoVA area:http://www.farmorders.com/homepage.htmSimply contact them and request further information. Once you receive an email, your email will be added to their system so that you can log into the website (under the products tab) to view the price list. They deliver weekly to the MD and NoVA areas.

This concept has grown beyond just a nutritionally dense diet. It is also about being self sufficient and conscious of our environment and how we live within it. Our eventual goal is to have a farm where we can raise our own eggs, milk and hopefully meat, as well as grow much of our vegetables and fruits. The goal is to know not only where our food comes from, but to share with others the reason why that knowledge is important in this day and age. We have found a wealth of resources online as always, and are learning so much, and finding that there is always more to explore and learn!

Some resources:Back Yard Chickens - BEST website for a wealth of knowledge on keeping chickens!